8. Hudson
8
HUDSON
I stand with Connor, surveying the room. Tanner has put on a welcome party for me, with some people from the town, his whiskey flowing, and his distillery lit up with flowers, fairy lights, and a blues band playing soulful tunes in the corner.
“Good turnout,” Connor says to me as we look at everyone. I’ve worked the room, talking to more people tonight than I have in a long time. I’ve caught up with some old friends, met new ones. Everyone is welcoming and happy to have me in town as their new medical professional. Tanner and Connor also have a few of their whiskey contacts here, always trying to mix a bit of business with pleasure when they can.
Throughout it all, though, my gaze hasn’t wandered too far from the brunette in the red dress across the room. Lacy looks stunning, breathtaking, really, and my heart clenches just like when I spotted her in town outside the diner last weekend. I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do when Harvey invited us along to her afternoon tea for one at the diner, but the minute she sat opposite me and I got to learn more about her, see her smile and laugh, then watch as she curled that fucking cherry stem with her tongue, I was glad we did.
Tonight, everyone in the room seems to know her and want her attention. She has been working the room too, as well as running around, organizing everyone and everything. She does it so effortlessly and with grace, yet she hasn’t had a break at all, and from what I’ve seen, she hasn’t even had anything to eat. I know because I’ve been watching her all night. She gives everyone time, speaking, smiling, and as I look at her, I admire her outfit, the dress fitting too well, her hair curled just right and shining, her brown eyes drawing me in.
“She went to an Ivy League, you know. Top of her class,” Tanner says, stepping up beside me. He’s obviously proud that he managed to not only hire an intelligent, highly skilled person for his team, but also that she’s local and from the same small town he has called home all his years.
“Who?” I ask him, playing dumb, my eyes not wavering from the vision in red across the room.
“Lacy. The woman you haven't stopped looking at all night,” he says, and Connor huffs a laugh, coughing to hide his amusement. I look at Lacy again, knowing that she would hate people talking about her like this. It’s something I’ve noticed about her. Her excellent ability to move the topic off herself, hating people worrying or focusing on her so much.
I scoff at him. “She’s too young,” I say, having already had this conversation with him. The age gap is my default, even though the issue is less of an impediment for me by the day.
“That’s why you had a date with her at the diner on Saturday, was it? Because she is too young to date?” Connor says, calling me out on my bullshit, and I look at him, my eyes narrowing.
“It wasn’t a date.” I don’t need to explain anything to him. It felt a little like it, though. Like we were edging into each other’s lives, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
“Hmmm… Rochelle said you two were pretty cozy. Talked all afternoon. She said you had her smiling like she hasn’t smiled for a while,” Connor continues, and I wonder if that is true. I like the fact that we had a good time together. I know I was on cloud nine for the rest of the day and night.
“It was just a friendly catch-up. Nothing more.” My voice makes it clear, but my mind and body yearn for something else entirely. We had fun. She was easy to talk to once the slight nervousness went away. Harvey loves her; they already have a rapport, and it seems like Lacy loves him just as much. It may have been just dessert on a Saturday afternoon, but when she twisted that cherry stem in her mouth, I was thinking things I really shouldn’t have been at the diner, in broad daylight, with my son around.
“I think I have well and truly broken the age gap record. Don't wait as long as I did. You miss out on too much,” Tanner says, taking a sip of whiskey as Connor stands by, watching us both. I think about Tanner’s words. He’s right. I know how quickly life can change. But Lacy is young. Sure, she’s smart and independent. More grown-up than other women her age. But I’m still not sure me swooping in, being fifteen years her senior, is the right move. But I want to. God, I want to.
“Hi, gents.” Sawyer steps up to our group, and I shake his hand.
“Good to see you. Sutton says hi, by the way,” I tell him about his brother.
“Did you see that asshole on social media today? The gossip pages have photos of him on some yacht in the South of France with a new leading lady. Lucky asshole,” he murmurs.
“He just finished a movie, right?” Connor asks, brow furrowed.
“Some action film. It comes out next year, I think,” Sawyer says.
“Does he ever introduce you to any of these ladies?” Connor asks, wanting the inside scoop. But to be truthful, there are so many ladies Sutton mingles with, it’s hard to keep up.
“No. Says he will never introduce anyone to a girl until it is the girl.” Sawyer shakes his head at his brother's antics.
“So, Sawyer, when are you moving here? Poor Jerry over there is almost at retirement age,” I ask, spotting the town lawyer sitting at a table with some others, looking weary, his retirement almost here. Now that I’m in place, Tanner is going to be moving more chess pieces to get Sawyer here to Whispers, I’m sure of it.
“Not likely. Do I look like I belong in a small town? Born and raised in the city, no other place for me,” he says smugly, running his hand down his tie, and my eyes flick to Tanner with a knowing grin on his face. Sawyer is growing his business tenfold, with a very successful law firm in New York and another on the West Coast as well, which is exactly why Tanner wants him here. Poor Sawyer doesn’t even know what is about to hit him.
“This release is smooth, Tanner.” My brother Huxley appears, having arrived today with his wife.
“It’s Next Door, the one Lacy and I are working on,” Connor tells him, and I feel a pang of jealousy that my best friend gets to work with Lacy and see her daily. I look at him watching the room. My eyes follow his line of sight, and when I see him staring at Lacy and a few others, my shoulders tense. He hasn’t said anything, but I wonder if he has his eyes on Lacy too. It makes sense; they seem close, and they work together every day. I swallow the jealousy that rises, hoping I’m wrong.
“She’s a smart girl, Lacy. Good hire, Tanner,” Huxley says, and my eyebrows rise, my jealousy spiking even more.
“You know her?” I ask him abruptly, which gets his attention.
“Known her for a while… I see her every time I come past the distillery.” He looks at me curiously, eyebrow quirked.
“Where is Mrs. Hamilton?” I snip at Huxley accusingly, ensuring his eyes are still firmly on his wife and not Lacy. My brother glances over my shoulder at something and then back at me.
“Over there, looking as ravishing as always.” He nods over my shoulder, and I turn to see my sister-in-law talking with Lacy and Victoria, the three of them animated and laughing. The conversation around me moves on to other topics as my brother leans in toward me a little.
“Everything alright? You seem a bit uptight tonight,” Huxley whispers.
“I’m fine. It’s a great night,” I say, lifting my whiskey glass to my lips.
“Wouldn’t have anything to do with the lady in red who has this whole room captivated?” he murmurs, and I want to punch him in the face. But he’s right. My best friend Connor even continues to glance her way before he walks off to talk with some people. But it isn’t just her good looks, it’s her energy. The way she talks to everyone and gives them her full attention. The way she’s so graceful, polite, her small-town manners not leaving her when she went away to college, and I know that’s something many people around here appreciate. She gives a lot of herself, to her work, this town, the people.
“Have no idea what you’re talking about,” I mumble, then toss the rest of my whiskey back as my brother cackles beside me.
“Asshole,” I grumble.
“Yeah, but you love me.” He smirks.
“Someone has to,” I tease, loving our brotherly banter and grateful that I can see him more now that I live here and he spends much of his time here now too.
“My wife loves me very much,” he quips.
“I always thought she was intelligent… but now I’m having my doubts.”
“Well, at least I went for what I wanted. Be careful, brother. You wait too long on someone as good as Lacy, and you might miss out.” He nods over my shoulder again before he walks away. I look back to where the girls were and still see Lacy, but the other girls have gone, and she’s talking to Connor. The two of them laugh, Connor standing way too close to her, and I make up my mind then and there. I’m going to ask her out. Because even though he’s my best friend, there’s no way Connor is going to get the girl.